The first quarter to March 31 was a relatively successful one for actively managed UK equity funds, with the median active manager outperforming the benchmark, according to investment consultant Mercer.

But global core and US large cap value equity and UK non-government fixed-income funds did less well, with the median active manager underperforming the benchmark. However, market returns were negative for all four asset classes over the first quarter and over the year to the end of March.

• UK equities

Scottish Widows UK Select Growth fund took pole position among the 160 funds surveyed by Mercer in the first quarter, up from 33rd in the previous quarter. The fund, run by Peter Cockburn, returned -3.3%, compared with an index return of -9.9% and a median return of -9.4%. The fund’s top holdings include oil companies BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which have done well this year.

Liontrust Asset Management had three of its UK equity funds ranked among the top 12. The Liontrust Lang Concentrated, managed by Jeremy Lang, returned -3.8% in the first quarter, putting it in second place. The Liontrust Opportunities Fund was ranked seventh in the three months to the end of March, up from 148th place the previous quarter. Liontrust’s Earnings Surprise fund, which returned -5.6%, finished 12th in the first quarter.

Jonathan Harbottle, head of institutional business at Liontrust, said: “It’s not just a question of where we are, but where we aren’t.” He said Lang’s fund had only one bank in its portfolio and no exposure to telecoms or pharmaceuticals.

Andy Barber, head of manager research at Mercer, said a typical manager was likely to be overweight small and mid-cap and underweight large cap. In the first quarter, mid-cap stocks did better than large caps – a reversal of the situation in the previous quarter. As a result, the median manager was able to outperform the index.

The bottom end of the table includes the Hermes Focus Fund, which returned -13.1% for the first quarter, as well as two funds run by Société Générale Asset Management. The SG Diversified Growth fund, a strategy run by portfolio manager Hari Sandhu since May 2006, returned -13.7% in the first quarter against a median of -9.4%. The SG Unconstrained fund, managed by Sandhu since its launch in December 2002, returned -13.9%.

According to Tessa Kohn-Speyer, head of UK institutional development at SGAM, the manager has a value bias in the unconstrained funds which has precluded significant holdings in sectors such as mining and oils, and led to overweight positions in financials. As a result performance has suffered.

• Global equities (core)

Odey Asset Management, a European hedge fund manager with more than $5bn (€3.2bn) in assets under management, beat 150 other funds to become the best-performing manager in the first quarter, up from 46th the previous quarter. It returned -0.6% on its investments in the three months to March, compared with -9% for the MSCI Free index. Over one year, the fund made 12.1% against -2.8% for the benchmark, putting it in seventh place. Over three years, Odey ranked 41 out of 116 funds with a return of 13.8%.

Boston-based Wellington Management Company’s Special Equity fund topped the performance tables for the three years to March as well as over one year. But in the three months to March, it dropped from third to tenth place, returning

-5.6% in the first quarter, 3.9 percentage points more than the median manager. Two other Wellington funds took an even bigger tumble in the first quarter to occupy the lower end of the table. Wellington’s Global Select Capital Appreciation fund dropped from 22nd place in December to bottom out of 151 funds at the end of March. It returned -14.6%. Wellington’s Global Strategic Equity fund fell from 71st place in December to a ranking of 147 at the end of March. It made -13.1% in the first quarter, compared with a median return of -9.5%. Wellington declined to comment.

• US large cap equities value

Three of the top five funds in this asset class climbed more than 100 places over the three months ended March 31. Beutel, Goodman & Company rose from 184th at the end of December to first place, Knightsbridge Asset Management climbed from 342 to third, and Haven Capital Management’s Dividend Value Equity fund moved from 279 to fourth. All four funds lost money but beat the index and the median manager.

According to John Prichard, co-founder and co-portfolio manager at Knightsbridge, the manager did well in the first quarter because it adjusted its portfolio in the fourth quarter last year. It sold stocks such as financials, and instead invested defensively in energy, gold and healthcare – sectors that did well in the first quarter. Knightsbridge also increased the cash levels in its portfolio from about 15% to 27%.

Cascade Investment Counsel was the best-performing fund manager over one and three years, delivering 12.5% over the 12 months to March, against a benchmark return of -10% and a median return of -7.2%. But in the first quarter, the fund’s performance dropped to -4.6%, putting it in 12th place.

In the first quarter, the median manager underperformed the Russell 1000 by 0.1 percentage points at -8.8%. Two funds run by Oppenheimer Capital, a unit of Allianz Global Investors, did badly. The Oppenheimer large cap value fund, managed by Colin Glinsman, was ranked last out of 349 funds, returning -16.7% against an index return of -8.7%. Oppenheimer’s large-cap focus fund, also managed by Glinsman, was ranked 347 and returned -15.7%.

• UK fixed income: non-government stocks

Schroders was the best performer of 34 funds in the first quarter, in the year to March 31 and over three years, despite slipping into negative territory this year. The fund returned -1.0% in the three months to March, outperforming the -2.7% return delivered by the iBoxx Non Gilts Overall index. The median manager returned -3.2% over the same period. Over one year, Schroders returned 0.8% against an index return of -0.6% and a median return of -1.4%. Over three years, the UK-listed asset manager made 3.6%, while the index generated 2.7% and the median manager 2.5%.

F&C Asset Management’s socially responsible investment fund ranked second in the first quarter, up from fourth place the previous quarter. The F&C Corporate fund was fourth. According to Rebecca Seabrook, co-head of UK credit at F&C, spreads continued to widen in the first three months, particularly in financials. The SRI fund did better than the corporate fund because it was more underweight financials and less affected by the credit crunch. The corporate fund outperformed its benchmark by 1.2 percentage points over the year to the end of March.